It wasn’t all bad

A campaign has been launched to encourage children to write letters to the elderly residents of local care homes, who may be cut off from contact with the outside world during the lockdown. Supported by the National Literacy Trust, My Dear New Friend is the brainchild of artist Alice Irwin. She came up with the idea after suggesting to her own children that they send notes to a local care home. They now have two pen pals, including a 92-yearold RAF veteran.

Berlin residents under lockdown are being treated to movie screenings on the sides of buildings, so they can watch films with neighbours from their windows and balconies. The Windowflicks project is run by MetaGrey, a lighting and architecture firm, and another business is distributing free popcorn. Residents can request a screening as long as they live in a block with at least 20 flats facing the same blank wall. Similar events have sprung up in Paris and Rome; and in Lithuania, an empty airport has been transformed into a drive-in cinema.

Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, raised £284,000 for charity last week by reading The Hobbit, unabridged, online. The 56-year-old actor’s 11-hour live-streamed performance, in which he used different voices for the various characters, was watched by 650,000 people. At the start of the reading, he thanked viewers for “joining me on this huge expedition we’re about to go on in our living rooms”. Donations went to NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings, a baby charity.